Sign



`Fam. 4, 1938. H. c. SPRATLEY ET Al. 2,104,280

SIGN

Original Filed Nov. 2l, 1935 Patented Jan. 4, 1938 UNITED STATES SIGNv v- Henry C. Spratley and Arthur L. Spratley, Providence, R. I. Y

Application November 21, 1933, Serial No. 699,015

, Renewed July 12, 1935 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a sign and has for one of its objects the provision of a sign which will stand upindei'lnitely when exposed to the weather.

` Another object of the invention is the provision of a sign in which the coating forming a part of the sign and serving to mark out the character designations thereon will not become spotted or its appearance detrimentally affected by heat such as from sunlight or the like.

Another object of the invention is the provision of sharp contrasting Ycoloring effects particularly white and black in a sign, land one which may be used,z for the transmission of light to be visible at night as well as in the daytime. f

Another object of the invention is the production of a sign in which there will be an air space between the front coated plate and the back plate in order that sweating due to changes in temperature will not be had and the life of the coating will be prolonged.

yA further object `of the invention is the provision of a cushion spacer between the plates whereby jars to which a sign may be subjected will not detrimentally affect the same particularly when the plates are made of frangible material such as glass.

With these and other objects in View, the in- 30 vention consists of certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully described, and Y particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing: Fig. 1 is a face View of the sign in completed 35 form.

Fig. 2 is a View showing the front plate provided with a coating of tinfoil as one step in the formation of the sign. Y

Fig. 3 is a view showing another step in the 40 formation of the sign with portions of the tinfoil removed from the front plate.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Figs. 2 and 3 showing a further step in the formation of the sign. Fig. 5 is a further step showing the formation 45 of letters.

Fig. 6 is a further step showing a coating over these letters.

Fig. '7 is a still further step showing the foil which has remained on the plate, such as illustrated in Fig. 5, as being removed together with the coating applied thereover.

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8--8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the front plate such as illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 with a spac- 55 ing strip positioned along its marginal edge..

Fig. 10 is a sectional View showing the vbacking plate as positioned against this spacing strip and with a `binder along the edges ofthe plate.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view thru the plates shown in Fig. 10 with the frame positioned there- 5 on, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 12 shows a perspective View of different portions of the parts which go to make up the border frame.

Fig. 13 is a sectional view thru the frame 10 alone.V

SignsA when placed in a window or outside of the house where exposed to weather such as are used by professional people, are subjected to changes in temperature due to the sun shining 15 thereon and moisture which is present in the air, which serve in many cases to spot or detrimentally affect a sign of this character; and in order that a sign of handsome appearance may be provided, which from an expense standpoint will compare favorably with the expense of a brass sign with inlay letters and yet will have the property of transmitting light or permitting light to shine therethru'to illuminate the characters,' such as when placed within a windowor 25 with some source of light behind, we have provided two plates with a coating on the front plate thereof which will contrast with the uncoated portions, forming a design thereon, and have provided a back plate of translucent character which may itself be of the desired color to be observed indaylight thru the transparent portion' of the front plate and will also permit passage of light from a source back of the same when the light back of the sign is stronger than that in the front whereby to permit the observance of the sign in a dim light; and the following is a detailed description of the present embodiment of this invention illustrating the preferred means and method by which these ad- 40 vantageous results may be accomplished.

With reference to the drawing, we provide for the front plate I5, some transparent plate such as glass and then coat the back of this plate with some sort of foil such as silver foil, tinfoil, leadfoil, or the like, depending upon the uses to which it is to be put. This foil is secured in place by some sort of gelatine adhesive solution and in application is smoothed down by means of a smooth edge back thru some sort of protecting material, such as paper or the like, in order that no wrinkles will be formed in the foil.

When it is desired to provide transparent characters, such as letters with a border about them, these are formed out of the foil on the plate by removing portions of the foil about them, such as Il and I8, to provide a suitable border strip, I9, and blocks, 20, of foil, which is the first step in making the letters. These blocks are located in the position which it is desired that the letters assume. By further operations, portions such as 2| and 22 of these blocks 20 are removed to provide letters, 23, together with the completed marginal border, 24. The letters are in reverse on the back of the plates, as indicated in Fig. 5, that they may properly read from the opposite side.

We then coat the inner back surface of the front plate with a waterproof paint, 25, sucht as indicated in Fig. 6, covering the portions of the plate from which the foil has been removed as well as covering the foil. If it is desired that the letters of the foil shall form the nished sign, Y

We may leave this foil in the position as illustrated in Fig. 6 with the backing thereover to protect them and then mount the sign in any suitable frame, in which case the sign will not be translucent. Usually, however, We desire to provide a transparent portion forming the letters and thus remove, as at 26, the foil 23, which forms the letters, which removing also takes the coating, 21, on this foil, thus leaving the transparent portions 23, in sharp contrast to the background 25, along the shape of the letters and also along the margin 2S, about the front plate.

If, however, it is desired to have a black letter and a transparent background, we will cause the foil to cover the background and paint over the letters the portions from which the foil is removed and then remove the foil.

Also, should it be desired to provide a color where the glass is transparent a suitable colored paint may be applied thereto in which case the transparency will be destroyed and the translucency diminished.

After providing the front plate in this manner, a strip of tape 3G, is placed along the marginal back edge of the plate and a backing plate 3|, which is frequently a white plate of translucent character, such as opal glass, is positioned against the marginal spacing tape and a strip of tape 32 is positioned about the edges of the assembly so as to bridge both edges of the plates and the spacing tape 35 and extend along the outer surfaces of the plates to prevent the entrance of moisture as at 33.

This translucent opal glass provides a white surface to contrast with the waterproof coating, which is often desirably black, permitting a very handsome sign to be formed by reason of the white showing thru the transparent cutout portion, such as at 28-29, and surrounded by a coating of black. Further, this translucent back plate permits the transmission of light therethru to be observed thru the transparent characters 28 and 29, enabling the sign to be used in the dark or in a subdued light.

A yframe is provided for this assembly consisting of angle or channel shaped strips of metal 34 and 35, with their upper L-shaped portions overlapping and secured to a wooden or nonmetallic strip 3S, by means of a screw 31, which will be adjustable as to the thickness and extend about the sign to be soldered at the mitered corners 39 to secure the same in position.

By the arrangement of the spacer 30, an air pocket 40 is provided which prevents sweating between the glasses and also an accumulation of moisture, which may spot the coating on the back of the front plate, thus we provide a sign which will outlast any sign in which the plates touch each other or the back plate touches the coating on the front plate.

Further, as this spacing strip 30 is of soft tape material, a cushion-like effect is provided between the plates to prevent their breaking or cracking from jars .or strong impacts received upon the outer surface of the plates and' which also permits expansion and contraction of the parts due to changes in temperatures.

The foregoing description is directed towards the method and construction illustrated, but we desire it to be understood that we reserve the privilege of resorting to all the equivalent changes to which the construction and method are susceptible, the invention being dened and limited only by the terms of the appended claim.

We claim:

A sign comprising a transparent front plate, a 1

coating on a part of the plate leaving other parts uncoated, whereby to provide characters of the desired shape, a translucent plate back of said front plate, a strip of tape along the marginal edges of'said plates and located between them and gl.

providing an air space between the plates, an additional piece of tape bridging the tape between the plates and overlapping ony the front and back surfaces of both of said plates and a frame about the edges of the plate whereby the plates are held together.

HENRY C. SPRAT'LEY.

ARTHUR L. SPRATLEY. 

